


This is Bigger Than You

by moobloom



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, M/M, Oc/ Canon character, Self-Indulgent, ill tag more stuff if i need to but for now this is fine, just super uhhhhhhhh, nothing special, this is just something I wanted to write
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-06 04:50:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18381305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moobloom/pseuds/moobloom
Summary: The gang finds that what's happening on Pandora goes way deeper than just a case of lost money, a few bounty hunters and a pissed off Hyperion executive.





	1. The Doctor Is In

**Author's Note:**

> am i embarrassed of this? yes. do i care very much?
> 
> no.

Rhys isn’t quite sure what hurts worse: the cuts on his face, or his back falling out of the caravan, or his head from falling off that ledge earlier, or his pride from _everything_ that’s happened in the past two days.

Sitting up and looking at his lone shoe, the other one long gone by now, he’s pretty sure it might be his pride.

When he finally speaks up, Vaughn’s voice only adds to Rhys’ seemingly ever-growing headache.

“The list of things that might kill us keeps getting longer… I hadn’t even thought about moonshots…” Rhys glances at his friend with a frown. _Yeah, no shit, it’s Pandora._ He turns and fixes his gaze on Helios with a look of longing. What he wouldn’t give to be in his air-conditioned office right now.

Vaughn continues, “Rakks, skags, bandits, dehydration, heat stroke, regular stroke, stroke-stroke…” He gestures towards the smoldering remains of the Raak Hive, voice cut with a panicked edge, “Whatever that is. That... _murder pile!_ The list just keeps getting longer…” He pauses again for a second, and when Rhys looks back at him, there’s a grin on his face, “I’ve never felt so alive!”

Vaughn hops off of what he was sitting on, which looks to Rhys that it might have been what remained of the vanity that was in Fiona’s trailer. Vaughn laughs, “This is awesome! I can't imagine going back to financial reports! Ugh, _boring!_ ”

Rhys can’t imagine what Vaughn _possibly_ sees as a positive in this situation, but he smiles anyway, “That’s the spirit, buddy.”

“It’s just…” He turns towards Rhys, and he does somehow seem genuinely excited, “I know it’s weird to say, but I’m having a great time.”

Rhys simply smiles half-heartedly, but Vaughn doesn’t seem to catch on to his hesitation. He laughs again, and his smile widens. “Rhys, this is what I was talking about! Mixing it up with Hyperion, teaming up with grifters? Come on! These are the types of stories we’ll be telling our children when we’re millionaires!” He takes a few short, enthusiastic steps towards Rhys, “We just survived moonshots from Hyperion. Frickin’ moonshots, man!”

He whips around to face Helios, hanging high in the sky. Rhys stands up tentatively and walks to his side, “I am not afraid anymore! You hear me, Hyperion? I am Vaughn and I am not afraid!”

A loud, crackling noise chimes from Rhys’ ECHOnet transmitter. Vaughn jumps at the sound, “Gah! What the hell was that!?”

Rhys rolls his eyes. _Not afraid, huh?_ “Relax. It’s Yvette.”

“Oh… okay… I have to pee.”

Rhys raises an eyebrow.

“And not cause I was scared… I-- I had to go anyway.”

Rhys ignores him, holding out his hand in front of him. A blue-tinted hologram interface pops up, Yvette on the screen.

“Oh, Rhys, you’re alive! Thank god you guys are okay.” she smiles, relieved, “I thought that was it for a second there.”

“Yeah, well,” Rhys begins, glaring at Yvette through the monitor. _She could have said_ something _, at least._ “Thanks for the warning.”

He’s a little pissed, but justifiably so. If they had known about the moonshots beforehand, they would still be safe and sound in the caravan, and Rhys would still have his damn shoe.

“Rhys, trust me. I tried. But it’s--”

“Tell her to send some supplies!” Vaughn calls from behind the rock he’s pissing on.

“Yeah, don’t talk to me while you’re peeing! Thank you.”

“Sorry!” Vaughn replies. Rhys shakes his head and cringes when Vaughn adds, “almost done.”

“Anyway,” Yvette continues, ignorant of their antics, “They’ll stop shooting, but I can’t keep Vasquez from wanting to take you guys out. I’m doing what I can, but it’s chaos up here. What can I do to help you?”

Rhys pauses for a moment, unsure of what to ask her. Then, finally, he says, “Yvette, are you able to locate Loader Bot? We kind of lost him racing away from the moonshots.”

Yvette turns away from the monitor for a moment, typing something at her computer. A moment later she shakes her head, “Rhys, that Loader Bot was destroyed by the moonshots. And I can’t send you another one, they'll get suspicious of me.” She looks back at the screen and Rhys tries to hide the disappointment on his face. Apparently he fails, because she continues, voice somewhat softer, “Look, I’m able to track you, so just stay safe for now. I’ll do what I can.”

The hologram shuts off with a blip sound, leaving Rhys to stare blankly at his hand. He frowns and mutters to himself, “Coooool.”

“Hopefully she can help us out,” Rhys turns at the sound of Vaughn’s voice, almost choking in surprise at the sight. His shirt is off, wrapped around his head, and _why the hell is he so ripped?_ “We can’t be walking through the desert for too long. I mean, not without water.”

“Uh… Vaughn?” Rhys crossed his arms over his chest, eyeing his friend up and down, “Should I be calling a doctor?”

“What? Why? What’s happening?”

“Cause you are all cut up. Heh heh.”

“What? W- am I bleeding? Where? What?”

Rhys blinks. _Wait, is he seriously…?_ “No. I’m saying… y- you’re weirdly buff.”

The two stare at each other in silence for a moment, before Vaughn smiles sheepishly, “I put an exercise bike in my office a few months ago. Don’t worry about it.”

Rhys is about to speak when a crackly voice interrupts him, “He is pretty yolked!”

“Ah!” Rhys yelps at the sudden intrusiveness of Jack’s voice. Vaughn’s eyes widen in panic, looking around for the source of Rhys’ newfound fear.

“I gotta say, I’m a little envious of the definition he’s got going on. Saving the world doesn't leave you much time for the gym.”

“Where, uh-- where did you go?”

“Well, that's what I’ve been quietly contemplating as I take in the desert air and wonder what kind of training regimen your friend is on.”  
  
“Rhys?” Vaughn waves a hand in front of the taller man’s face, trying to get his attention. “Who are you talking to?”

Rhys looks away from Jack and back to Vaughn. He has the same look of concern as earlier when Rhys had fallen off the ledge in the Atlas ruins and told him he was seeing some kind of hologram of Handsome Jack. Vaughn had most definitely thought he was acting crazy before, and Rhys doubts he’ll change his mind any time soon.

“So he definitely can’t see me, right?” Jack takes a few steps forward to stand beside Rhys, who makes no effort to respond.

“You’re kinda freaking me out, Rhys…” Vaughn frowns. “We’re the only ones here.”

“Hey, Rhys, buddy,” Jack continues to probe, “There’s no way this guy is gonna believe you.”

“You have been hitting your head a lot lately…” Vaughn.

“I mean, I barely believe this crap, and I’m in the middle of this nightmare!” Jack.

Rhys blocks out the sound of Jack’s voice and gives Vaughn his best ‘I’m definitely not crazy, _please believe me_ ’ smile, “Hey, so, remember earlier, when, uh, I said I could… see Handsome Jack?”

Vaughn gives him a skeptical look, “Sure, right after you _fell off the ledge_.”

Rhys laughs. “Oh, yeah, right, well, it’s true. Uh, he’s standing right next to you.”

“Right. Right…” Vaughn pauses for a moment, clearly unsure. “So Handsome-- HANDSOME. JACK. Is standing next to me.”

“Yes.”

“And I can’t see him, but you’re able to see him, and also talk to him.”

“Correct.”

“He definitely thinks you're crazy,” Jack says.

Rhys laughs, somewhat nervous and shaky, “I’m not crazy.” _Am I?_

“Okay,” Vaughn moves a hand behind his back, “ask him how many fingers I’m holding up.”

Jack walks behind him, craning his neck to look at his hand. “I don’t know, he’s… scratching his ass and, uh-- Oh! God! I think he may have pissed on his shirt, that’s not clean.”

“Ye-yeah, how many?” Rhys asks tersely, fed up with Jack’s, uh, _jack_ assery.

Jack gives him a look, before caving and checking again. “Three.”

“Three… you’re holding up three fingers.”

Vaughn blinks in surprise. “Lucky… guess…”

“You know it’s not.” Another moment of quiet passes between them, before Rhys adds, “come on. We should get out of the sun.”

“I… I don’t understand…” Vaughn mumbles.

“Join the club.” Rhys and Jack say it at the same time. Rhys shoots Jack a glare, practically feeling his skin crawl. _God, this is weird._

“Jinx.” Jack frowns. Rhys thinks the hologram might feel the same way.

“Let’s go.” Rhys says, then turns around and begins to walk, Jack following shortly behind him. Vaughn hesitates for a moment.

“I can’t tell if you’re crazy, or I’m crazy…” Vaughn watches Rhys as he walks away into the desert, but after a moment’s thought, he decides he’d rather hang around with his possibly (I.E. _very likely_ ) insane best friend than take his chances alone on Pandora. He really doesn’t want to get shanked and gutted by a psycho today. Finally, he takes off jogging after Rhys, and it isn’t long before Jack starts to complain.

“Yeah, I don’t know what state of being I’m in right now, but uh… well, walking still sucks.”

Rhys can’t help but agree. Now he almost envies Vaughn-- he doesn’t look warm at all. It probably has something to do with the probably piss-soaked shirt wrapped around his head, though, and Rhys thinks he could do without that. Instead of thinking about the maddening heat, he just focuses on walking.

_Come on, Rhys, don’t be an idiot. You know how to walk, right? Just put one foot in front of the other, and then again, and again… oh, God, please don’t trip, not in front of Jack._

“Man, what are the odds?” Vaughn pipes up after a while.

“What does he mean?” Jack throws an accusatory glance at Rhys.

“Yeah, what do you mean?” Rhys agrees.

“I mean, of all the people in the universe Handsome Jack could be… uh, appearing to… it just happens to be the guy who’s totally obsessed with him. I mean, that’s crazy! It’s like destiny!”

“Uh… What? Sh-should I be creeped out right now? Cause I’m feeling a little creeped out.” Jack raises an eyebrow at Rhys, who stares forward in an attempt to ignore the warm blush creeping up his neck. _Nice going, Vaughn._

“H-ha ha ha, whaaaat?” Rhys laughs, clearly playing it cool. Not. “I wouldn’t say I’m.... you know, obsessed. I admire his work, sure, but, I mean, obsessed? That’s-- that’s a-- that’s a s-strong way to… to… to…” he trails off, feeling his breath begin to shorten. _Oh, God, shut up, me._

“Alright, take it down a couple of notches, kiddo. Not really digging how you’re looking at me right now.”

Rhys turns his gaze away from Jack and avoids looking at him. _Oops. Not creepy at all._

“Um, I’m not sure it is…” Vaughn continues, unaware of Jack’s additions to the conversation, “I mean, think about it. You’ve got all those handsome Jack posters in your office, dude… I think that’s a little weird.”

“That makes two of us.” Jack adds.

Rhys stops in his tracks and turns to face the other two men. “Those are… motivational posters, you know, like the cat hangin--?” Neither Jack nor Vaughn look convinced. “They’re Hyperion issued.”

“Well, maybe it has something to do with the Nakayama drive.” Vaughn speculates, after a few seconds of quiet, jogging a little to catch up with Rhys.

“Namayaka,” Jack butchers the name, probably on purpose, “w-- why does that sound familiar?”

“Well, I did shove a bunch of data, you know, straight into my head…” Rhys agrees.

“Oh, Nakayama. Right. The weirdo that was obsessed with me.” Jack continues, “The _other_ weirdo that was obsessed with me.”

“I’m not obsessed!” Rhys laughs hopelessly.

“Oh, man, Hyperion would kill to get their hands on this!” Vaughn runs a few paces ahead of Rhys and stops in front of him.

“This?” Rhys asks, confused.

“You! Your… head, or body, or whatever Jack is in.”

“Yeah… they would want me, wouldn’t they?” Jack turns to face Rhys.

“Whatever version of Jack you’ve got in there…” Vaughn continues, “Nakayama stored it for a reason.”

“You know…” Rhys begins, a smile forming on his face, “this could actually save our careers.”

“Yeah. I guess so.” Vaughn turns back around and continues walking.

_Is it just me, or does he sound kind of not at all stoked about that?_

“You just get me back up to Hyperion, and… We’ll run that place together, huh, kid?” Jack falls into step beside Rhys. “You, me… mostly me, but whatever."

They continue walking for a few paces before Vaughn stops. He turns his head up towards Helios and smiles, relieved. “It’s about time.”

There’s an object streaming through the sky. Rhys frowns. He has a bad feeling-- it couldn’t be another Loader Bot. Yvette already said she couldn’t send one. He stays quiet.

The object circles around the nearby mountain, on a trajectory towards them.  
  
“I guess she’s sending a new Loader Bot,” Vaughn says. He sounds hopeful, like a kid on Christmas speculating about what toy he would get.

“No,” Rhys shakes his head. “Couldn’t be. She said she can’t send one.”

As it gets closer, Rhys feels his stomach drop. Whatever it is, Yvette hadn’t sent it.

“Uh oh!” Jack laughs, “Incoming! I guess that tracker’s working, huh, boys?”

“It’s coming right for us…” Rhys says, _clearly a keen observationalist_. “It’s coming right for us!”

“Come to papa!”

Rhys and Vaughn dive either way of the oncoming object. The outer shell protecting it from burning up in Pandora’s atmosphere splits, revealing a red and yellow car with the Hyperion logo marking one side. Rhys and Vaughn rise to their feet and watch in silent horror as the car comes for them, only narrowly turning to the side and skidding to avoiding hitting them. It kicks up a cloud of dust in their faces.

The window rolls down, revealing Vasquez’s smug, stupid face.

“Nice sock,” he says, glancing down where Rhys’ boot used to be. Rhys glares at him.

He turns to the passenger's seat and grabs something before pushing the car door open and stepping out. Held in two hands is a large gun-- a shotgun, maybe?-- but definitely Hyperion brand. It’s black with streaks of red and yellow, and, seriously, ridiculously oversized.

“Fancy meeting you two here,” Vasquez smirks, adjusting the shotgun in his hands. Rhys and Vaughn back up a few steps. “Here I was, out for a nice drive...and I land right on just the guys I was looking for.”

Rhys returns the smug look despite himself and the situation, glancing at the car, and then back at Vasquez. “It’s red, Hugo. I thought you wanted your car in black.”

Vasquez laughs, somewhat bitterly. “Oh ho, I see what you did there. That’s funny! You steal my car, you make jokes about it. That’s good, that’s great stuff.” He takes a few steps closer to the men and the smug look on Rhys’ face falls back to fear, “Look, I know we had a deal… and while I don’t like to go back on an agreement…”

“Hey, I turned you d--”

“Hey, that’s right, we did have a deal!” Vaughn cuts Rhys off. “You convince me to double-cross my best friend, and the day isn’t over until you’re double-crossing me!”

_… what?_

Rhys looks down at his friend and shakes his head wordlessly. He has to admit that it stings. Especially considering he had remained loyal, despite the _overwhelming_ temptation to save his career. Vaughn catches his eye and flinches at Rhys’ look of disappointment. He turns away, clearly ashamed.

“Should have known better than to trust a snake like you.” Vaughn spits at Vasquez.

“Oh, don’t be like that, little guy. It’s just the way of the, uh… Listen, I’m gonna go see if I got a shirt in the trunk, ‘cause your body is making me…” Vasquez gestures to his chest. “Uncomfortable. Hold tight, kids.” He turns away and takes a few steps towards his car, popping the trunk open. Rhys turns to Vaughn, arms crossed, clearly hurt.

“Look, I told him I would sell you out, but I swear I wasn’t gonna do it. I was just saying whatever he wanted to hear to keep that jerk off our backs.”

Rhys hesitates for a moment. Yeah, he still feels a little betrayed, but what does it matter now? “It’s cool.” He says. Even though it’s clearly not.

“Is it?” Vaughn probes, “I can’t tell if--”

He’s interrupted by a shovel landing at his feet. Vasquez throws another one to Rhys, who catches it with a surprising amount of grace.

“What are these?” Vaughn asks dumbly, suddenly a little more panicked.

“They’re shovels, genius.” Vasquez looks between the two men and points the gun at Vaughn. “You two freaks start digging. I wanna see a decent grave going before too long.” He glances to Rhys as Vaughn begins digging, “You heard me.”

“Come on, let’s work this out,” Rhys laughs, putting on his most charming smile, “Surely there’s something--”

“Oh, we’re waaaaay past that.” Vasquez laughs. He gives Rhys some kind of look of disgust, almost, and Rhys can practically hear him calling him a _coward_ in his head. He wants to call it ironic, but it’s not exactly wrong.

“You and m- you and me, we, uh, we could partner up!”

Vasquez laughs again, and it’s clear to Rhys that nothing he can say will change Vasquez’s mind. He wants them dead.

“Partners, huh? Oh, who knew you had such a flair for comedy? You should take that act on the road. Oh, wait, no,” he points the gun at Rhys now, “you’re gonna be dead in five minutes.”

Rhys looks down to the shovel in his hands, then back at Vasquez, then at the gun pointed at him. Vasquez continues, directing his next comment at Vaughn, “What part of dig don’t you understand? Let’s get going, Mr. Universe!”

“Okay!” Vaughn begins to dig again. “Just… don’t shoot.”

Finally, Rhys decides to do the same. He shoves the shovel down into the hard-packed dirt, grunting at the effort it takes each time. He and Vaughn exchange a look. The situation feels infinitely hopeless.

“Dig faster! Time is money, Rhys.”

“Really? You want me to dig _my own grave_ faster?” Rhys laughs dryly, not really finding anything at all to be funny. _More like, ‘die faster’_. Vasquez doesn’t respond. Doesn’t even blink. Then, after a long pause, he steps forward and abruptly headbutts Rhys. It makes a sick cracking sound, and both men cry out in pain.

Vasquez clutches his forehead. “Ughh! Aghh! Damn! Damn that smarts. I think I did that wrong… I… You got a tough noggin. Looks so easy in the movies, but--”

“Amateur hour.” _Oh no_ , that’s Jack’s voice. He sounds slightly off, like his voice isn’t in sync with his body just yet. “You gotta aim for the bridge of the nose, Dum-Dum.” Then, with his voice more or less back to normal, he turns to Rhys, “How come every time I show up you idiots are in a worse situation?”

Rhys groans, and quietly responds, “You’re not helping.”

“Alright, fun’s over!” Vasquez seems to have recovered a little, “Looks like we’ll be settling for the shallow variety of grave.” He points the gun at Rhys again, “Rhys, you die first, then he can load your body in the car. I’ll bury Vaughn myself.”

“What!?” Vaughn gasps. He and Rhys glance to each other, expressions nothing short of panicked. If they don’t think of something literally right now then they’ll be dead within two minutes.

“Yeah, they want this idiot’s body for something up there. Something, ah, important floating around in his head.” Rhys and Jack exchange a look while Vasquez continues, showing off the giant gun in his hands, “This is a prototype. The most advanced gun Hyperion has ever made.”

"Someone’s overcompensating.” Jack snorts.

Vasquez fires up the gun, and a blue ball of energy begins to form. Then, it immediately begins to spark out. Vasquez looks in panic to see what the problem is, shaking the gun hopelessly. The fear falls from Rhys’ face, replaced by a look of smug, unimpressed triumph. _He doesn’t even know how to use it!_

“Any… last words?” Vasquez says in vain.

“Two,” Rhys says. “Eat. Shit.”

“Yeah, that’s the spirit!” Jack laughs.

“Well, that was three words.” Vasquez corrects him, still shaking the gun, like that’ll fix the problem, “But I’ll be sure to put _ate shit_ on your tombstone.”

“You know, I’d be more worried about my tombstone if you knew where the safety was.”

“You’re hilarious. I’m gonna miss your…” Vasquez trails off, turning the gun over in his hands. Finally he breaths, “God damn it.”

“Uh,” Vaughn stammers, adjusting his glasses, “is there a problem there, or--”

“I know how to shoot a gun! I just want to, um, get the maximum damage out of this thing...”

“Okay, look,” Jack steps in front of Rhys, clearly fed up, “ As much as I’d love to watch this idiot kill you two idiots, I can't let that happen. I’m- I’m inside of-- I’m not inside you, but I’m like-” _oh my god please stop talking_ \-- “Look, if you go, I go, alright? I’ve enhanced your ECHOeye, so use it to hack something and get us the hell out of this jam. You figure out how you can pay me back later. I’ve got your back.” Jack attempts to give Rhys an encouraging clap on the shoulder, but his hand phases right through. “Right. Okay, mess this guy up.”

Rhys glances between Vasquez’s gun, and the car. Finally, he settles on messing with the car and scans it. This is new to him-- he has access to all of the car’s subsystems. He goes through his options-- he thinks about starting out by making Vasquez paranoid, honking the horn, turning the radio on, but he’s somewhat worried he won’t have enough time, _as fun as it would be to fuck with him_. Instead, he goes straight for the accelerator. He focuses as he turns the gear shift and moves the wheel, diving away at the right moment as the car drives forward and knocks Vasquez off his feet.

Jack howls with laughter, “That’s what I’m talking about!” He continues to laugh, pointing at the man on the ground. Suddenly, Rhys feels his arm move-- and not of his own volition. It’s the same arm Jack is pointing with.

“What are you doing with your hand?” Vaughn asks.

Rhys stammers, slamming the robotic arm with his other hand, “I-I-I’m not doing that!”

“Ohh, hello! This is an interesting little development.” Jack moves his own arm and watches as Rhys’ does the same movement. He flexes, opens and closes his fist, and Rhys’ does the same.

“Fine, look, we gotta go!” Vaughn yells. He’s right-- Vasquez is starting to get up.

Rhys shakes his head, then attempts to gain control back over his arm. “This… is… MY head! Get out!” He has to use his other arm to push back Jack’s movement. He loses his grip for a moment and feels his fist slam into his head.

“Aw, see, look what you did there,” Jack’s voice is messed up again, and Rhys can see him flickering, “you hit yourse--”

“RHYS!!!” Vaughn yells again, and finally, Rhys snaps out of his mental battle with Jack. They have to run away, _now_. Vasquez is up, for real.

“Yeah! Go ahead and run!” Vasquez called after the fleeing figures as he got into the car and started it up, “You’re just making this funner for me!”

“Rhys, what the hell do we do!?” Vaughn yells over the sound of the engine revving. Rhys shakes his head. _How the hell am I supposed to know?_ He glances behind them as they run, and feels panic leap into his throat like a spray of cold water. He’s catching up to them.

Then, a loud whooping sound, like a scream, rings throughout the desert. There’s another sound, like a revving engine, but not from Vasquez’s car (it’s significantly more loud and disgusting than a Hyperion car would ever dare to sound). Suddenly, another car, a truck, black and visibly dirty even from so far away, comes soaring through the sky, rolling off a large rock like it’s a ramp, followed by a smaller pickup truck, colored blue. Gunshots ring out and the black truck goes crashing to the ground in front Vasquez's car. Even from this distance, Rhys can smell gasoline and gunpowder. The blue truck comes down to the ground intact, swerving to avoid crashing into the wreck it created.

Rhys spots an object in the corner of his vision-- something had been launched from Helios.

“Is that Loader Bot?” Vaughn asks, hopeful.

“No, I told you, Yvette said she couldn’t send another.” Rhys squinted, trying to get a better look. Then he shakes his head in disappointment. “Escape pod. So Vasquez can get off Pandora.”

Glancing back down at the wreckage of Vasqez's car, they can see the pod going back up to Helios. Rhys uses his ECHOeye to look closer, and he can see Vasquez flipping them off from inside. He makes the same gesture, hoping he can see it from so high up.

“Rhys, look,” Vaughn says. Rhys glances down at him, and sees that he’s pointing. He follows Vaughn’s line of sight. Where the cars had landed was a total mess. The black truck had collided into Vasquez’s car, destroying both. The front of the truck is completely crumpled, and there seems to be a small fire somewhere; smoke is drifting from under the hood. He can’t see anyone in the car, but the driver is probably dead. Then he sees what Vaughn is pointing at-- there’s a figure getting out of the other truck, the blue one. He sees them open the door to the black truck and begin rifling through the inside.

“Do you think they’re dangerous ?” Vaughn asks.

“This is Pandora, of course they’re dangerous.” Rhys squints, trying to see them better. He can’t see the figure very well, but they look somewhat small, almost child-like. “I think the better question is, will they kill us if they see us?”

“Do you think we should--”

“Ask a random stranger for help? You know how that usually turns out for us.”

“Rhys…” Vaughn looks up at him and shakes his head, “we have nothing right now. We can’t even get another Loader Bot. Can you at least scan them to see if there’s any danger?”

Rhys sighs and begins to focus on the figure. After a moment, a description of the person comes up.

Name: “Patch”  
Species: Homo sapien  
Origin: Pandora  
Status: alive  
**WARNING. DO NOT INTERACT. WANTED CRIMINAL. REPORT TO HYPERION AUTHORITIES IMMEDIATELY.**

And then an image of a wanted poster pops up, along with a picture. The bounty is $500,000, and the poster lists a few relatively small and meaningless crimes; it isn’t until Rhys sees the words _resistance alliance_ that he feels a cold twinge of dread in his throat.

“Apparently they’re a criminal,” Rhys says, “a Crimson Raider or something. We’d better steer clear.”

Vaughn is silent for a moment. He looks over at Rhys with a weird expression on his face.

“Oh, ho ho, not you don’t,” Rhys warns.

“You don’t know what I’m gonna do.”

“Vaughn, don’t you--” Vaughn stands up and began jogging over to the figure. “... dare. God damn it.” Rhys follows suit.

As the two men approach the figure, they share an apprehensive look. Suddenly Vaughn looks worried that he’s made the wrong decision, but he quickly shakes it off. “Excuse me, uh…” with a closer look, the person is clearly a woman, and not a kid like Rhys had for some reason thought. “Miss?”

The woman yelps and jumps in surprise, hitting her head on the top of the door frame. She glances back briefly at the pair before continuing to search the car, “H-hang on a sec, I’m a little busy here.” Up close, the car she’s rifling through is a piece of junk.

The black paint is chipped, the body is rusted, the tires are scratched, and the hull is dented, and the blue truck isn’t in much better condition. Rhys has a feeling it looked mostly the same before it had been destroyed by the crash. Inside of the car, there is the body of only one bandit, who looks like he's been killed by shattered glass (from the front window being shot out, Rhys guesses)-- you know, because that’s what his face is completely spotted with. His clothes are splattered with blood and only some of it looks like it belongs to him. Rhys turns his head away to avoid looking at the gory sight.

The passenger’s side door of the truck is wide open, and the woman rummaging through the car is hanging half out this side.

Finally, the woman seems to have found what she’s looking for, because she exclaims, “Aha!” She shimmies back out of the car, back still turned to Rhys and Vaughn. She’s holding a shiny, gold colored pistol. “There you are, little guy… Huh. Guess Ben was right. You look like you’ll fetch a high price. Or something like that...”

  
“Hello?” Vaughn repeats. Rhys is a few steps behind Vaughn, completely ready to grab the smaller man and run for their collective lives. The woman hums in response but doesn’t turn around.

“Yeah, just a sec! I’m just…” she fiddles around with the gun, clearly unsure of what she’s doing. Kind of like Vasquez just a little while ago. Finally, the ammunition chamber pops open. It’s empty. The woman opens the small leather pack attached to her hip and begins rifling through it. There’s a red cross stamped across the front, which makes Rhys think she might be a doctor or something. “Okay, so I suppose you folks need directions? Or are you looking for medical help?”

“Uh…” Vaughn and Rhys exchange a look, “uhhhh….”

No one speaks for a few moments. The woman doesn’t acknowledge their hesitation. Then finally, the woman tucks the pistol away. She dusts her left hand-- Rhys can see now that the right is some kind of mechanical hand, not unlike his own-- off on her shirt. It leaves a small smear of dirt and blood. Finally, she turns around to face them. She doesn’t look at them just yet, still rummaging through the pack.

Now that he can actually see her, Rhys notices that she’s fairly nice-looking and non-threatening, despite the general, uh, Pandoran muck and grime covering her skin and clothes. Rhys can’t see any weapons on her, but if we’re being honest here, he isn’t paying much attention-- he’s a little distracted looking at her face.

“By the way, you folks shouldn’t be out here,” she continues adjusting her pack. It’s small, attached to a belt around her waist, but it looks full. Then she stops and finally looks up at them, “Don’t you know that this is— Oh, crud!” she yells and quickly pulls a gun from a holster strapped to her leg. “Hands up! Put your hands up, now!”

“I— what—“ Rhys stutters, panic leaping into his throat. Vaughn backs up a few steps.

“You— oh Gosh. Oh Gosh!” She thrusts the butt of the gun into Rhys’ chest, finger thankfully far away from the trigger. She uses her other hand to point at the logo on his vest. “Y-you’re Hyperion!”

Rhys stutters, failing to come up with a response. Luckily, Vaughn speaks for him. “No, no, we’re—“

“Oh, crap, I’m dead! I-I’m-- I’m so dead!” She glanced up towards the moon, at the Helios station. “So when are your c-corporate buddies coming, huh? Coming to take us away? Probably, um, torture us, or whatever you Hyperion meanies do! You’ve come here to have us k-k-killed, haven’t you?! Well I’ll— I’ll k-kill you first, if I h-have to!”

  
“You’re being really presumptuous, lady!” Rhys cries, voiced laced with extreme panic, regretting the words almost instantly. She doesn’t back off. He’s more than acutely aware of the gun pressing hard into his chest.

He notices now that she’s quite a lot shorter than him, not much taller than Vaughn, in fact. If he has to, he can probably shove her to the ground and they’d get away without much trouble. In fact, she’s so small, it looks as if a light breeze could do it for him. But he has to admit he’d be uncomfortable hitting a girl, especially one so frail looking. Then again, you can’t exactly judge Pandorans just by looking at them. Especially not raiders.

“We aren’t with Hyperion anymore,” Vaughn assures her, and Rhys is almost alarmed by the statement. He hopes she doesn’t catch his wince. “In fact, our boss pretty much just tried to kill us.”

“Not pretty much,” Rhys corrects him, not trying to hide the bitterness in his voice, “he had a gun and shovels and everything. And if all else failed he would have just run us over with his car.”

“Thanks for reminding me,” Vaughn shoots him something like a glare, “because I’d completely forgotten all about what happened not five minutes ago.”

“S-stop bickering,” the woman says. Rhys had almost forgotten about her-- keyword, _almost_. The gun pressed into his chest is cold, even through his shirt and vest. She gestures to Vasquez’s car, and Rhys feels a twinge of pleasure at how wrecked it looks now, “that car? I-it’s so ugly…”

Rhys laughs despite then gun, “I know, right? He wanted it in black, but--” she presses the weapon a little harder into his chest and he shuts up. She looks back to Vaughn, waiting for him to continue speaking.

“A-as I was saying, we’re not with Hyperion anymore. We kind of stole some money, and… uh… it kind of… exploded. So now we’re in deep shit with them, and…”

“You’re on the run?” Rhys feels the pressure on his chest lighten, and he notices she’s holding then gun awkwardly. For a second he thinks that maybe she doesn’t exactly know what she’s doing, but then he thinks that would be ridiculous. _Right?_

“Yeah, exactly.”

“I see…” finally, she lowers the gun and takes a step back from Rhys. He can see her visibly relax, and is surprised at the empathetic tone her voice takes on when she next speaks. “So w-what are you gonna do now?”

“Well…” Vaughn pauses for a moment, unsure of what to tell her. Rhys eyes pointedly at the gun still clutched and loaded in her hand and he continues, “we need to get to Hollow Point to meet up with our friends. We, uh…” he hesitates again. Rhys is worried that any lying will get them shot. “We’re looking for a Vault.”

“T-that’s…” The woman breathes eyes widening, “wow, that’s r-really dangerous business, but… hey, it just so happens I’m already going to Hollow Point! If you want, I can give you a ride and help you find your friends.”

Rhys and Vaughn exchange a look. It probably isn’t the safest or smartest thing for them to do, you know, hitching a ride with a stranger, but they  _had_ already done the same thing yesterday. _Oh, and look how that turned out for you. You’re missing a $90 shoe._

Finally, Rhys speaks for the both of them, “Okay, but don’t, uh, y’know, kill us.”

The woman giggles, “T-to be honest, I really didn’t even want to threaten you, I don’t really like violence. It’s just Hyperion, you know…” she hesitates and glances back to the dead bandit in the black truck, “O-okay, that guy was an exception to the no violence rule.”

“And we’re not exceptions?”

“Not unless you try anything,” She slots the pistol back into its holster and moves towards her truck, “Oh, my name’s Patch, by the way.”

“Patch?" Vaughn raises an eyebrow. “What kind of name…?”

“Pandorans.” Rhys scoffs and the two share a laugh. The woman cocks her head, confused, and Rhys thinks that she doesn't get the joke.  _The joke is that you Pandorans have weird names._

“Well, it’s just a nickname,” she shrugs, “But usually when you do introductions you get _everyone’s_ names. So…?”

Vaughn clears his throat and Rhys is surprised when he holds out a hand for her to shake, “Vaughn.” he says, and she seems pleased at his politeness, shaking it with her own hand-- the flesh one, not the metal one. They release and she looks up at Rhys.

“Right, uh, I’m Rhys.”

“ _Reez?_ ” she repeats, cocking her head. _Again? It’s not even that hard of a name to remember, yeesh_. Then she giggles again, like it was just a little joke. “I like your sock, by the way.”

For a moment he’s almost mad, _yeah, I get it, my expensive goddamn shoe is gone and I should have put on more respectable socks yesterday morning_ , but he can see that her smile is earnest. He returns it, if somewhat half-heartedly, and she turns back to the pickup truck and climbs in. She turns the key (he can see a little keychain hanging down from it, it looks like some kind of cutesy cartoon animal) and the radio begins to blare upbeat rock music.

“Come on,” she says, “we’ll get you to Hollow Point in no time.”

They’re about to climb in when Vaughn tugs on Rhys’ shirt.

“What is it?”

“Rhys,” he begins, and the tiniest smirk appears on his face, “you seemed really scared back there.”

“And you _didn’t_ seem scared, which is weird because she has a _gun_.”

“Which was unloaded.”

“... what?”

“And upside-down.”

Vaughn climbs into the back of the truck, leaving Rhys dumbfounded, half in, half out of the vehicle.

_Oh, my god, I was right. She doesn’t know what she’s doing._

He seats himself in the passenger’s seat and prays to every god and CEO he can think of that he doesn’t die today.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys and Vaughn take a ride to Hollow Point with a stranger.  
> (Short chapter)

Patch knows she should be paying more attention to the road, but her attention is elsewhere. She mumbles along to the radio under her breath, ignoring the yelp of the man in the passenger's seat when she hits yet _another_ rock.

“Do you have, uh, a driver's license?” The man— _his name was Rhys, right?_ — asks from beside her. His voice is shaky and nervous and makes her smirk, but when she glances over at him she can see him holding onto the dashboard for dear life, and she feels a little bad. She reaches for the volume knob on the radio and turns it down a few notches.

“That’s not really a thing on Pandora,” she laughs, “you know, what with it being _Pandora_ and all.”

“Oh, right, of course,” he inhales sharply when the truck lurches again, “anyone can just drive whenever, wherever, and whatever they want, right?”

“Hey, if it makes you feel any better, this is my own car,” she tells him, “y’know, it’s not like I stole it or anything. I’m not a criminal.”

_That’s not entirely true, but they don’t need to know about that._

She feels Rhys’ gaze on her and glances to him. She notices now that his eye, the left one, is kinda weird. It’s all light blue and dilated, moving like the shutter of a camera. It looks somewhat… mechanical.

“What’s with your face?” She asks without hesitation. The words sound rude, but she says them in a way that sounds simply innocent and curious. “Your eye is all… blue and stuff.”

He seems taken aback, and then bashful. He looks away, hesitates, and says, “It’s uh… an ECHO implant. Lets me scan stuff and learn information about things.”

“Oh, cool!” She flashes him a smile, “That would be so useful, jeez, I— hey, wait, were you scanning me?”

He pauses, and then says shyly, “No…”

A moment passes and she considers calling him out, but Vaughn speaks up from the back seat, “So… Hollow Point.”

“Right,” Patch turns her gaze away from Rhys and glances briefly into the rearview mirror. Vaughn is sitting forward in his seat, clearly eager for a response, “Hollow Point isn’t far from here. We’ll be there in ten, maybe. I’ll have to take the truck to Scooter’s ‘cuz it’s a little beat up, but my brother can probably help you find your friends.”

“Your brother?”

“He runs a shop in Hollow Point. Or, uh, I guess we run it together. Doesn’t matter. He knows everyone, he can help you out.” She looks back into the mirror and gives him a quick smile, “can you tell me anything about your friends? So it’s easier to find them and all?”

“They’re criminals, or something,” Rhys frowns, “like, con artists.”

“There are a lot of criminals and con artists on Pandora. Can you be more specific?”

“One of them has a dumb hat,” Rhys continues, earning a slight snicker from Vaughn, “a tall lady with a hat. And she has a sister with, uh, hair.”

“... with hair?” Patch repeats, and Rhys gets a weird look on his face, like he knows it was a dumb thing to say. “Well, That helps! Thanks for the info, really.”

He frowns, dumbfounded, “Wait, seriously?”

“No, _duh_.” She laughs and the truck hits a bump, earning another yelp from Rhys, “with hair? Jeez, dude, that’s such a dummy thing to say.”

Vaughn laughs at this and Rhys shoots him a glare. “Okay, how about you tell her, then, huh?”

Vaughn shakes his head, “Okay, well, I saw Fiona on a wanted poster at one point.”

“Oh!” Patch gasps in sudden realisation, “Oh, I know who that is! I’ve seen those posters around too. I always pull them down when I see them. If she’s in town, my brother can help you find her right away.”

“Well that’s a relief,” Vaughn sighs, “I was worried this was gonna be hard.”

“You’re just gonna have to hope nobody wants to get to them before you,” Patch warns, “bounty hunters have become real active lately. If word gets out that you guys are Vault Hunters, then…”

“W-we aren’t Vault Hunters!” Rhys laughs nervously, sitting up in his seat, “that’s not… we’re, you know…”

“You’re hunting for a Vault,” she says, “you’re Vault Hunters.” Patch catches the worried look on his face and gives him a reassuring smile, “it’s okay. I’ve met Vault Hunters before. I’m friends with some! You don’t need to worry about a thing, okay?”

He visibly relaxes, sitting back in his seat. _I guess I can see why Ben says I have good bedside manner. Hehe, doctor of the year award, here I come._

“What’s that?” Vaughn asks, pointing out at something ahead of them. Patch looks forward through the window. The road in front of the car leads into the mouth of a cave.

“That’s the entrance to Hollow Point,” she says as she continues to drive, “we’re here.”


End file.
